4 Things to take away from the CHAN tournament
The weekend was indeed one to forget for the home-based Eagles who lost out on claiming the Total African Nations Championship trophy for the first time upon their third appearance at the competition. The team looked hapless as the Morocco ran riot, beating them by four goals to nil. That result means that the CHAN Eagles have now lost two final games in the space of one year- the first being the West African Football Union championship final in which they also conceded four goals.
While the bitter pills swallowed by Eagles at the hands of the Atlas Lions might have left us with some negative memories, I will like to draw out some positives and/or salient points from the Eagles’ run at the tournament.
Ikechukwu Ezenwa looks good for the World Cup
With the retirement of Vincent Enyeama and Carl Ikeme’s health issue, finding a pair of safe hands to man the Super Eagles’ goalpost have been quite challenging for the coaching crew of the national team, and coach Gernot Rohr does seem to have some reservations about trusting Ezenwa with such responsibility as he makes aim to bring Enyeama out of retirement. But going by Ezenwa’s performances [prior to the injury that ruled him out of the final game] then there should not be so much cause for alarm; the goalkeeper gave a good account of himself, winning a ‘man of the match’ award on one occasion- in the quarter-final match against Angola. Though the world cup is at a different level altogether but his (Ezenwa’s) input at the CHAN competition might have his world cup spot [in the squad] a lot of good.
There are treasures in Nigerian Professional Football League
It was no doubt a disappointing run at the end but that does not mean there are no treasures that can be unraveled from the production line- the NPFL. There are a good number of players that showed great promises whenever their services were required. Ikechukwu Ezenwa is already a popular NPFL star; however, players like Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Osas Okoro, Stephen Eze, Sunday Faleye, Dayo Ojo and Kalu Orji are also worth taking note of. Digging deeper, there are yet some other players with great potentials [in different NPFL clubs] that did not make the cut for the tournament.
Preparation remains crucial
The old saying that ‘when one fails to plan, he/she plans to fail’ still holds truth, and that somewhat applies to the poor preparation of the team for the tournament. Although the team was involved in a friendly game with Cameroon and also played in the super six- a competition that involved Plateau United, Eyinmba, Akwa United, Kano Pillars and MFM- but more should have been done for a group of players that had not been involved in competitive games for up to three (3) months before the friendly matches were played. Adequate preparation could have helped to address the issue of players’ fitness. The lack of match fitness might have had a telling effect on the team’s performance as a couple of key players were lost to injuries.
The League needs an upgrade
Though the team scaled through to the final of the competition but if Nigerian clubs’ performances at continental competitions are anything to go by [and if we are to win any competition with our home-based setup], then you will agree that the standard of the Nigeria Professional Football League needs to be upgraded. It is no coincidence that Morocco emerged winners; the Moroccan league is one of the strongest in Africa, and the core of the team that represented Morocco at CHAN composed of players from Raja Casablanca and Wydad Casablanca- two clubs with rich vein of history at continental competitions. Again, other national home-based teams that have gone on to win- or put up a strong showing at the competition- the trophy have always had a heavy presence of players whose teams are actively involved in continental competitions. In essence, talents may not be enough to win the elusive CHAN title; we have got to look inward- not necessarily going back to the drawing board- and the national football league a huge lift.